Pakistani Government Report Says Bin Laden Loved Wearing Cowboy Hats, And Was Once Stopped In 2002

Following the military raid on the Bin Laden compound in 2011,
the Pakistani government set up a commission of inquiry to find
out exactly what happened, if there were any lapses in
leadership, and what follow-on actions should be taken.

Today, Al Jazeera published
the exclusive report from the "Abottobad Commission," which
performed the investigation.

Inside their report were many interesting details, but we've
managed to get it down to just five.

Bin Laden was once stopped by a cop for speeding in 2002,
but nothing happened.

From the report:

"Maryam, of course had no occasion to speak to the tall Arab [bin
Laden]. Once they were all (including the tall Arab) on a visit
to the bazaar they were stopped for speeding by a policeman. But
her husband very quickly settled the matter with the policeman
and they drove on."

Bin Laden was a devoted dad.

From the report:

"The children of the OBL family led extremely regimented and
secluded lives. OBL personally saw to the religious education of
his grandchildren and supervised their play time, which included
cultivating vegetable plots with simple prizes for best
performances ... "

" ... [Navy SEALs] also took a purse that contained the will of
OBL. Kairriyyeh had previously read the will but did not wish to
divulge the details. She said it was not political and pertained
only to personal and family related matters. Other reports
suggested that the will said his children should not seek
leadership of Al Qaeda ... "

Osama bin Laden loved wearing a cowboy hat.

Previousreports on Bin Laden never
indicated that he was observed wearing a cowboy hat. Reports have
mentioned that intelligence officials had dubbed him "the pacer,"
since he paced outside on his balcony quote a bit.

But there was never talk of a cowboy hat until now.

From the report:

"When OBL moved about the compound, he wore a cowboy hat to avoid
detection from above."

"Poor Uncle" and how Ibrahim al Kuwaiti's wife found out
she was living with Bin Laden.

From the report:

Maryam had four children. The eldest was her 9 year old daughter,
Rahma. One day she asked her father why "the uncle who lives
upstairs" in the main house never went to the bazzaar. Ibrahim
invented a story that he was too poor to go out and buy anything.
From that day Rahma referred to him as "miskeen kaka, ie poor
uncle."

"The womenfolk in Abbottabad initially had access to
TV. However, one day while watching Al Jazeera a picture of Osama
came on the screen and Rahma immediately recognized him as her
"miskeen kaka" who lived upstairs in the main house. Ibrahim
panicked and was very upset with Maryam. He immediately stopped
the ladies access to TV.

CIA Ground Assets:

It was no
secret that the CIA had this house under surveillance, but the
degree with which they had "ground assets" was never full
disclosed.

Here, the
commission reports that CIA presence in the area may have been a
lot heavier than previously publicized:

The Pakistan Army Board of Inquiry Informed the Commission that
the stealth helicopters were probably guided by ground operators
who were already in place around the OBL compound. In this
regard, there were reports of "suspicious activities" indicating
CIA ground support for the planning and implementation of the
raid. These included the cutting of trees to clear the approach
of the helicopters, the hiring of a house in the vicinity of the
OBL compound by supposed USAID employees, and the movement of
four fo five Predo/land Druisers from the the US embassy in
Islamabad toward Peshewar/Abbotabad. The US Embassy personnel
coming from Islamabad and seen headed toward Abbottabad maybe
have been CIA agents to assist the helicopters.